The Other Side of Procrastination
August 13, 2008 Changing your life, Life choices, procrastination No Comments
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We are all guilty of procrastinating, especially with those tasks that are unappealing, boring, or monotonous. The consequences of procrastination vary depending on the tasks.
Putting off organizing your sock drawer has harmless consequences. But delaying paying taxes will eventually lead to fines, the loss of your home and possibly jail.
Putting off making a purchase may give you time to think through the wisdom of this expense. But putting off sticking up for yourself can lead to long-term damage.
Then there are things we delay because we just don’t want to do them but somehow think we should. Unless the consequences are dire, just don’t do them.
Throughout my teaching career I always had a sideline, usually an extension of teaching.
Even in my early years of teaching junior high school I accepted a position teaching graduate students in the evening for Pepperdine University. Along at the same time my principal recommended me to a major publisher looking for teachers to be part of a textbook series. I accepted, and now added coauthoring a language arts to my sideline.
Years later when I moved to be closer to my new position at a community college, I expected to continue my practice of moonlighting. This time I planned to conduct educational seminars.
I began to gather information and attend seminars on setting up seminars. I researched the topics I would cover and planned the target market for my program. No matter how much preparation I did, however, I wasn’t moving any closer to getting started.
Months passed. I soon became aware that I was dragging my feet. I just couldn’t seem to get in gear. I was not enthusiastic about my new endeavor so I procrastinated getting started.
Finally, it hit me. There was a good reason I was procrastinating. My heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t want to do it.
It was a relief to figure this out. Now I could stop beating myself up for procrastinating. It was sending me a message. I would later embrace seminars with excitement, but not then.
Procrastination is not automatically bad. Ask yourself what message your procrastination is sending to you?
If you have tasks on your to-do list that you just keep pushing aside, take a hard look at those tasks. If continuing to procrastinate will cost you money, a relationship or time in jail, force yourself to get those done now.
If, on the other hand, there is a task growing stale on your to-do list, take it off. You can put it back on the list later if you want. For now it’s something you just don’t want to do, so stop frustrating yourself. Take it off and enjoy the relief.
